In Another Form
by Tessie26
Summary: Claire isn't sure what to name her new baby, until she talks to Shannon. Claire helps Shannon realize that Boone will always be with her. One-Shot.


AN: Hey everyone! This is my second _Lost_ fic, some of you may remember reading my other one _Lost in Thought_. Anyhow, this one-shot takes place directly after "Do No Harm", so read and enjoy.

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Charlie and Claire sat in Sawyer's makeshift tent, Claire holding her newborn son. The tiny baby was only a few hours old, and Charlie, with Sayid's assistance, had "suggested" to Sawyer that he give up his tent for the night so that Claire wouldn't have to walk all the way back to the caves with the baby. 

"Are you alright, love? You don't need anything?" Charlie asked worriedly. It was getting dark, meaning that Charlie would soon have to return to the caves, knowing that it wouldn't exactly be moral to spend the night in the tent with her.

"I'm fine, Charlie. Don't worry about anything, I can handle this." She smiled affectionately at him, hardly moving in fear of waking the now-sleeping baby.

"Alright, I can take a hint." He replied sarcastically. "I'll go. But, you know where to find me if you need any help or anything, right?"

Claire sighed, thinking that with the way Charlie was stalling, It would be morning before he left. "We're on an island, Charlie. If I lost you here then I'd really be a moron, wouldn't I?"

Charlie nodded, saying one last good night, and then heading out the make-shift door of the tent. He'd make it a few feet towards the path to the caves when he noticed Sun coming towards him.

"Kind of late for a stroll, isn't it?" He asked.

"Jack told me to ask Claire what the baby's name was. He wanted me to write it down with the time and date he was born so we have a record of his birth." She explained in all seriousness, and it occurred to Charlie that maybe she hadn't understood that he'd been making a joke.

"Oh, right, um, I'm not sure Claire's chosen a name yet. But, I suppose you could give it a try."

He lead her back to Sawyer's tent, the light inside making it apparent that Claire had not yet gone to bed. Charlie knocked softly on one of the pieces of wood supporting the tent, and Claire pulled back the sheet serving as a door for the shelter.

"How do you expect me to get any sleep Charlie, if you keep coming back to check on me?" She asked, only half-jokingly.

"It's not his fault, Claire. Jack wanted me to write down the baby's name, for the birth certificate." Sun said quietly, making her way into the tent behind Charlie.

Claire looked slightly surprised, as she hadn't really thought about what to name her baby. In her defense, it had been a very exhausting day.

"If you haven't thought of a name yet, you can always wait until tomorrow. Can't she?" Charlie asked, turning to Sun.

"I don't think it will make any difference." Sun responded. "Though, if you really want to name him now, 'Fai-Sheng' means 'brilliant victory' in Korean. It's a very popular name there."

"I've always liked 'Lucas', actually." Charlie said. "Real boy name, that is; I had a cousin named Lucas. Funny, he was always a bit of a nutter."

"Well I hadn't exactly..." Claire began, but then an idea hit her unexpectantly. "On second thought, is Shannon still awake?"

Neither Sun nor Charlie had any idea what Shannon had to do with Claire's son's name, but nevertheless, Charlie volunteered to go and find Shannon, thinking it better not to ask any questions.

"Maybe it would have been better not to bother her tonight." Sun advised in vain, as two shadowed figured appeared outside of the tent.

"We'll leave you two to talk." Charlie said, holding the sheet back for Sun as she left the tent. He sensed what Claire was about to do, and he knew It was better left a private conversation between the two blondes.

In the tent, Claire quietly observed Shannon, her face pale, eye make-up smeared from hours of crying, her skirt wrinkled from feverishly pulling at it over and over again. The pain she felt from the loss of her brother was evident on her face.

The baby slept on in the cradle Locke had helped made for him, it stood at the very back of the tent, giving Claire just enough space to move about beside it. Shannon's eyes were fixed on her hands as Claire spoke.

"Shannon, I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry for your loss." Shannon said nothing in response, and remained still, so Claire continued. "And I wanted to ask you something. I'd like your permission to name the baby after Boone."

Shannon looked up now, blinking a few times, and then she did something Claire would have never expected: Shannon began to laugh. It wasn't like an evil laugh, or a laugh of insanity, but If she didn't know better, Claire would have thought that someone had just told a very funny joke.

"What is it? Did I do something wrong?" The new mother asked, hoping that Shannon would calm down so she wouldn't wake the baby.

As her giggling gradually ceased, Shannon choked out an answer. "Wh-why would you want to name a baby 'Boone'?"

"Well, I thought It'd be a nice way to remember him, your brother, that is.Unless you don't like the idea."

Shannon was serious now, her laughing sobered. "No, I meant, 'Boone' wasn't my brother's real name."

"It wasn't?" Claire asked, a bit confused.

"No. His real name was 'Daniel'." Shannon decided it would be easier to just give Claire an explanation now, rather than confusing her further. "When our parents were dating, we were really young. The first time my Dad and Boone's Mom introduced us was the day my third grade social studies class learned about Daniel Boone. I was a smart-ass eight-year-old, and I thought I was being cool by making the connection between what I figured would end up my new goody two-shoes brother, and the stuff at school."

Tears began to fall from her eyes as she continued. "I used to tease him all the time; I remember, my friends and I made up a chant 'Daniel Boone fell from the moon.'. Everyone started calling him 'Boone', and by the time our parents got married, the only person still calling him 'Daniel' was his mother."

Claire handed Shannon a piece of cloth to use as a tissue. " 'Daniel'. " Claire said thoughtfully. "That's a nice name. Would it be all right with you if I used it for the baby?"

Shannon thought it over. She wasn't used to someone speaking to her with such sincerity. She knew it would be a long time before she could get over Boone's death, but despite their complicated past, she never wanted to forget him. "Sure. If you like the name, who am I to stop you?"

Claire smiled. "Thank you Shannon, this means a lot to me; You know, astrologists believe that people can come back in other forms, so maybe Boone came back as Daniel."

Before Shannon could respond, Sun and Charlie once again entered the tent after knocking.

"Are you all sorted out, then?" Charlie asked Claire.

"I think I've found the perfect name." She told him, glancing once more at Shannon.

"Will you spell it out? I don't know how good I am with non-Korean names." Sun said, readying the pen and the small pad.

Claire spelt the name for Sun, and then spoke. "I named him for Boone. And his middle name is the male version of his star sign."

"His real name wasn't 'Boone' ?" Charlie asked, the same look on his face that had been on Claire's a few moments prior.

Shannon shook her head, but this time offered no explanation. Instead the three hunched over the small pad as Claire tended the baby, who had begun to cry.

Charlie read the name out-loud:

_Daniel Libro Littleton_

_October 17th, 2004_

_9:32 Pacific time_

"I like it." Shannon announced quietly. A slight tear fell from her eye as she watched Claire with baby Daniel.

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**_In memory of Boone Carlisle_**

**_April 6th 2005_**

**_Rest in Peace_**

Well that's it! I hope everyone enjoyed this, as I tried to make it original. Thanks for reading and please review! -:)Tessie


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